The Changing Party System

In the early postwar period the United Kingdom was regularly cited as a prime example of a state in which a two-party system operated in the postwar period but the Conservative–Labour general election duopoly has been eroded since 1970. The decline of class voting and party identification and emergence of new issues have contributed to party system change but the prevailing pattern is one of dealignment rather than fundamental realignment. Though third and minor parties have increased their share of the nationwide vote, this has not been reflected fully at Westminster where two-party politics remains the norm. The electoral system also continues to deliver majoritarian government despite the share of the vote achieved by the ‘winning’ party falling. Beyond Westminster, multi-party systems have developed at European, subnational and local level. In each case, patterns of party competition and cooperation are distinctive from those operating in the UK electoral, legislative and executive arenas.